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King Benhadad of Syria gathered all his troops, and supported by thirty-two other rulers with their horses and chariots, he marched up, laid siege to Samaria, and launched attacks against it.
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He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel to say, "King Benhadad demands that
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you surrender to him your silver and gold, your women and the strongest of your children."
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"Tell my lord, King Benhadad, that I agree; he can have me and everything I own," Ahab answered.
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Later the messengers came back to Ahab with another demand from Benhadad: "I sent you word that you were to hand over to me your silver and gold, your women and your children.
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Now, however, I will send my officers to search your palace and the homes of your officials, and to take everything they consider valuable. They will be there about this time tomorrow."
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King Ahab called in all the leaders of the country and said, "You see that this man wants to ruin us. He sent me a message demanding my wives and children, my silver and gold, and I agreed."
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The leaders and the people answered, "Don't pay any attention to him; don't give in."
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So Ahab replied to Benhadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king that I agreed to his first demand, but I cannot agree to the second." The messengers left and then returned with another message
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from Benhadad: "I will bring enough men to destroy this city of yours and carry off the rubble in their hands. May the gods strike me dead if I don't!"
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King Ahab answered, "Tell King Benhadad that a real soldier does his bragging after a battle, not before it."
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Benhadad received Ahab's answer as he and his allies, the other rulers, were drinking in their tents. He ordered his men to get ready to attack the city, and so they moved into position.
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Meanwhile, a prophet went to King Ahab and said, "The LORD says, 'Don't be afraid of that huge army! I will give you victory over it today, and you will know that I am the LORD.' "
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"Who will lead the attack?" Ahab asked. The prophet answered, "The LORD says that the young soldiers under the command of the district governors are to do it." "Who will command the main force?" the king asked. "You," the prophet answered.
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So the king called out the young soldiers who were under the district commanders, 232 in all. Then he called out the Israelite army, a total of seven thousand men.
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The attack began at noon, as Benhadad and his thirty-two allies were getting drunk in their tents.
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The young soldiers advanced first. Scouts sent out by Benhadad reported to him that a group of soldiers was coming out of Samaria.
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He ordered, "Take them alive, no matter whether they are coming to fight or to ask for peace."
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The young soldiers led the attack, followed by the Israelite army,
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and each one killed the man he fought. The Syrians fled, with the Israelites in hot pursuit, but Benhadad escaped on horseback, accompanied by some of the cavalry.
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King Ahab took to the field, captured the horses and chariots, and inflicted a severe defeat on the Syrians.
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Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, "Go back and build up your forces and make careful plans, because the king of Syria will attack again next spring."
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King Benhadad's officials said to him, "The gods of Israel are mountain gods, and that is why the Israelites defeated us. But we will certainly defeat them if we fight them in the plains.
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Now, remove the thirty-two rulers from their commands and replace them with field commanders.
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Then call up an army as large as the one that deserted you, with the same number of horses and chariots. We will fight the Israelites in the plains, and this time we will defeat them." King Benhadad agreed and followed their advice.
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The following spring he called up his men and marched with them to the city of Aphek to attack the Israelites.
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The Israelites were called up and equipped; they marched out and camped in two groups facing the Syrians. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats compared to the Syrians, who spread out over the countryside.
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A prophet went to King Ahab and said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the LORD.' "
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For seven days the Syrians and the Israelites stayed in their camps, facing each other. On the seventh day they started fighting, and the Israelites killed a hundred thousand Syrians.
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The survivors fled into the city of Aphek, where the city walls fell on twenty-seven thousand of them. Benhadad also escaped into the city and took refuge in the back room of a house.
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His officials went to him and said, "We have heard that the Israelite kings are merciful. Give us permission to go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our necks, and maybe he will spare your life."
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So they wrapped sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their necks, went to Ahab and said, "Your servant Benhadad pleads with you for his life." Ahab answered, "Is he still alive? Good! He's like a brother to me!"
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Benhadad's officials were watching for a good sign, and when Ahab said "brother," they took it up at once, and said, "As you say, Benhadad is your brother!" "Bring him to me," Ahab ordered. When Benhadad arrived, Ahab invited him to get in the chariot with him.
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Benhadad said to him, "I will restore to you the towns my father took from your father, and you may set up a commercial center for yourself in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria." Ahab replied, "On these terms, then, I will set you free." He made a treaty with him and let him go.
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At the LORD's command a member of a group of prophets ordered a fellow prophet to hit him. But he refused,
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so he said to him, "Because you have disobeyed the LORD's command, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me." And as soon as he left, a lion came along and killed him.
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Then this same prophet went to another man and said, "Hit me!" This man did so; he hit him a hard blow and hurt him.
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The prophet bandaged his face with a cloth, to disguise himself, and went and stood by the road, waiting for the king of Israel to pass.
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As the king was passing by, the prophet called out to him and said, "Your Majesty, I was fighting in the battle when a soldier brought a captured enemy to me and said, 'Guard this man; if he escapes, you will pay for it with your life or else pay a fine of three thousand pieces of silver.'
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But I got busy with other things, and the man escaped." The king answered, "You have pronounced your own sentence, and you will have to pay the penalty."
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The prophet tore the cloth from his face, and at once the king recognized him as one of the prophets.
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The prophet then said to the king, "This is the word of the LORD: 'Because you allowed the man to escape whom I had ordered to be killed, you will pay for it with your life, and your army will be destroyed for letting his army escape.' "
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The king went back home to Samaria, worried and depressed.
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Near King Ahab's palace in Jezreel there was a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth.
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One day Ahab said to Naboth, "Let me have your vineyard; it is close to my palace, and I want to use the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price."
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"I inherited this vineyard from my ancestors," Naboth replied. "The LORD forbid that I should let you have it!"
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Ahab went home, depressed and angry over what Naboth had said to him. He lay down on his bed, facing the wall, and would not eat.
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His wife Jezebel went to him and asked, "Why are you so depressed? Why won't you eat?"
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He answered, "Because of what Naboth said to me. I offered to buy his vineyard or, if he preferred, to give him another one for it, but he told me that I couldn't have it!"
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"Well, are you the king or aren't you?" Jezebel replied. "Get out of bed, cheer up, and eat. I will get you Naboth's vineyard!"
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Then she wrote some letters, signed Ahab's name to them, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the officials and leading citizens of Jezreel.
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The letters said: "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honor.
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Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of cursing God and the king. Then take him out of the city and stone him to death."
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The officials and leading citizens of Jezreel did what Jezebel had commanded.
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They proclaimed a day of fasting, called the people together, and gave Naboth the place of honor.
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The two scoundrels publicly accused him of cursing God and the king, and so he was taken outside the city and stoned to death.
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The message was sent to Jezebel: "Naboth has been put to death."
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As soon as Jezebel received the message, she said to Ahab, "Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the vineyard which he refused to sell to you."
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At once Ahab went to the vineyard to take possession of it.
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Then the LORD said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe,
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"Go to King Ahab of Samaria. You will find him in Naboth's vineyard, about to take possession of it.
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Tell him that I, the LORD, say to him, 'After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?' Tell him that this is what I say: 'In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!' "
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When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, "Have you caught up with me, my enemy?" "Yes, I have," Elijah answered. "You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the LORD's sight.
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So the LORD says to you, 'I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike.
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Your family will become like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have stirred up my anger by leading Israel into sin.'
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And concerning Jezebel, the LORD says that dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel.
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Any of your relatives who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures."
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(There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the LORD's sight as Ahab---all at the urging of his wife Jezebel.
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He committed the most shameful sins by worshiping idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had driven out of the land as the people of Israel advanced.)
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When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth. He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed.
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The LORD said to the prophet Elijah,
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"Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family."
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Jehoshaphat succeeded his father Asa as king and strengthened his position against Israel.
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He stationed troops in the fortified cities of Judah, in the Judean countryside, and in the cities which Asa had captured in the territory of Ephraim.
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The LORD blessed Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father's early life and did not worship Baal.
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He served his father's God, obeyed God's commands, and did not act the way the kings of Israel did.
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The LORD gave Jehoshaphat firm control over the kingdom of Judah, and all the people brought him gifts, so that he became wealthy and highly honored.
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He took pride in serving the LORD and destroyed all the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah in Judah.
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In the third year of his reign he sent out the following officials to teach in the cities of Judah: Benhail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah.
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They were accompanied by nine Levites and two priests. The Levites were Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and the priests were Elishama and Jehoram.
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They took the book of the Law of the LORD and went through all the towns of Judah, teaching it to the people.
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The LORD made all the surrounding kingdoms afraid to go to war against King Jehoshaphat.
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Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat a large amount of silver and other gifts, and some Arabs brought him 7,700 sheep and 7,700 goats.
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So Jehoshaphat continued to grow more and more powerful. Throughout Judah he built fortifications and cities,
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where supplies were stored in huge amounts. In Jerusalem he stationed outstanding officers,
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according to their clans. Adnah was the commander of the troops from the clans of Judah, and he had 300,000 soldiers under him.
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Second in rank was Jehohanan, with 280,000 soldiers,
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and third was Amasiah son of Zichri, with 200,000. (Amasiah had volunteered to serve the LORD.)
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The commander of the troops from the clans of Benjamin was Eliada, an outstanding soldier, in command of 200,000 men armed with shields and bows.
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His second in command was Jehozabad with 180,000 men, well-equipped for battle.
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These soldiers served the king in Jerusalem, and in addition he stationed others in the other fortified cities of Judah.
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You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God.
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Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth.
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For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
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Your real life is Christ and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory!
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You must put to death, then, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passions, and greed (for greed is a form of idolatry).
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Because of such things God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him.
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At one time you yourselves used to live according to such desires, when your life was dominated by them.
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But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips.
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Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits
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and have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in his own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself.
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As a result, there is no longer any distinction between Gentiles and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, savages, slaves, and free, but Christ is all, Christ is in all.
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You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
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Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you.
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And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.
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The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.
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Christ's message in all its richness must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct one another with all wisdom. Sing psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts.
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Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father.
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Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, for that is what you should do as Christians.
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Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
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Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents always, for that is what pleases God.
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Parents, do not irritate your children, or they will become discouraged.
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Slaves, obey your human masters in all things, not only when they are watching you because you want to gain their approval; but do it with a sincere heart because of your reverence for the Lord.
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Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.
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Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what he has kept for his people. For Christ is the real Master you serve.
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And all wrongdoers will be repaid for the wrong things they do, because God judges everyone by the same standard.
